Preserving style

Hotels and restaurants are now breaking from the convention and looking at unconventional fabrics for upholstery - from leather to silk, polyester and even vinyl. Praveen K Singh finds out how hotels maintain them.

Advancement and embellishments in the textile industry have led to an extension in the selection of fabrics and colours of upholstery in the hospitality industry. New materials are constantly produced to keep pace with demands for a variety in easily cared for versatile fabrics. Although this gives designers a great deal of choice, it can prove to be a bane in disguise for housekeepers.

Cleaning and maintaining these designer upholstery is a tough job and can cost hotels a lot of money if not undertaken successfully. Mistakes in machine loading, wrong temperature and agitation, mixing colours with whites, or simply ignoring the care-tags can all result in spoilt fabrics. Raj K Dutt, laundry manager at Taj Hotels, says, "A typical wash load contains more coloured items than before and these should be washed separately from whites. Taking care of different types of fabrics varies considerably and the way in which they are washed can play a large role in their maintenance." He adds that following care-tags is a must because they give recommendations about washing, ironing, cleaning and other specific advice on the care of goods.

Post-washing practices

Post-washing treatments are performed immediately after washing or dry cleaning, when the fabrics are completely cleaned and rinsed. Devender Singh, a laundry consultant, says, "Normally, several methods are adopted in the final process of washing, which make the fabrics soft, unwrinkled, static-free, bright and gives them a pleasant fragrance. The fabrics that require starch have to be starched in the final rinsing."

He explains that different types of laundry additives are employed to get specific results. "For instance, fabric softener is used to make fabrics soft, wrinkle-free and static-free. Brightener makes them bright and highlights their colours. Bleach and blue are applied for white fabrics. Fragrance is used to cover the smell of chemicals," he says. Industrial launderers use different types of solvents and detergents for washing and dry cleaning, which ensure thorough cleaning of the upholstery fabric. However, in course many fabrics lose their essential features.

Often washed fabrics become rough, static, dull and full of unpleasant smells after washing or dry-cleaning. This is because of strong detergents and solvents used to remove stains. According to Pran Raina of Hotel Marriot, sometimes solvent and detergent residue in the fabrics makes them smelly. To avoid this, launderers have to apply certain laundry additives that make them look squeaky-clean. "Hence, laundry professionals try to retain the clean and new look of garments by using various additives like fabric softeners, brighteners, bleaches, blue and fragrances at the end of washing process. We use different products for post-washing operations that enables them to provide clean, bright, soft and well-ironed fabrics at the end of the laundry cycle," he says.

He explains that fabric softener not only makes the garments fluffy soft but also helps control static cling and reduces wrinkles. "A variety of fabric softeners are formulated with colour while rinsing. It is best to use laundry additives that act as anti-static and anti-soiling agents," suggests Raina. There are two types of fabric softeners available in the market - one is liquefied and the other is a dry sheet. Marriot uses Glax Comfort fabric softener, which comes in liquid form. A topical fabric treatment product, usually marketed in the form of a spray, is used to provide fresh fragrances or mask unpleasant odours.

Changing trends

Talking on the changing trends in washing, Puja Mehta, executive housekeeper of Jaypee Vasant Continental, says, "Most fabrics these days are stain- and fire-resistant. Also, as far as regular cleaning is concerned, we can vacuum clean upholstered furniture and also shampoo them with special shampoo machines and cleaning agents."

Echoing her views is Shivani Singh, executive housekeeper at The Metropolitan Hotel Nikko, who says, "The methods used for maintaining and preserving the upholstery are: one, by scotch-guarding the fabric when used for upholstery.

This forms a layer on the fabric which does not let the fabric absorb any kind of stains; secondly, by shampooing the fabric at regular intervals, and lastly leatherette polishes are available for leather and vinyl to prevent them from cracking and maintains the fabric's richness."